The African ELE-Pets found a warm and cozy spot to take a group nap—a
foot soak bucket lined with fresh hay!

As a postscript to this photo, several e-mails have come in asking
"Why don't we spay our cats?" -- As a matter of fact, ALL our dogs and cats
are spayed or neutered. These little kittens were born to a stray cat we
rescued. Not only did we give all the babies a home, we spayed them as well!

October 23, 2005

Tange and Zula are exploring farther afield then ever before. They have found
not only more pine forests, but the hardwood forests as well.

September
27, 2005
The forest is so beautiful and lush this time of year and Tange has no problem
navigating her way through the dense growth. Her main motivator…food.
Tange is driven by her stomach and spends the majority of her waking hours
in search for MORE!

September
23, 2005
Tange has a way of entertaining herself…continually. Her non-stop energy
and easy-going nature makes her a joy to observe. Today the EleCam caught her
dashing from one adventure to the next!

August 25, 2005
Another day in paradise. Tange, Zula and Flora savor the warm sunny days and
compatible company. Today the resident family of wild turkeys came strolling
down the road for a visit. The elephants are quite comfortable with them
under foot.

August
23, 2005
The weather has cooled a bit and the girls are taking advantage of the mud.
Tange and Flora enjoyed a playful wallow in the mud hole followed by a covering
of dirt. All three are perpetual motion moving in and out of camera range
all day and night. They definitely got their exercise today!

Tange, Flora and Zula continue to amaze us with their seemingly overnight
transformation into a bonded group. Each day they become even more calm and
attentive to each other. Zula is so relaxed that she approaches Flora head
to head, exchanging trunk touches and responding with deep guttural rumbles.
They are sharing food, mud holes and each others company.

The day we have waited a year and a half for; the African elephants have
chosen today to become a family. They are all together and from the looks of
it cannot get enough of each other. Over the past year and a half not a day
has gone by that caregivers did not evaluate what more could be done to
help Flora and Zula come to terms with their mutual desire to be in charge.
Zula approached the issue with calm patience, trying to win Flora’s acceptance
as the leader of the herd, but Flora refused to relinquish. Flora tried
to win the position of leader by brute force. Her volatile response to Zula’s
calm insistence would result in bouts of physical interaction that tested
both elephants' strength, agility, coordination and self confidence. The
two are well matched, but where Zula excelled in maturity Flora surpassed
her opponent in sheer fearlessness.

The weeks and months passed and Zula never
gave up trying to win Flora over. She spent hours engaging her over the
fence line. The interaction would get rough and then become a synchronized
dance of intertwined trunks, ears and heads. Tange often pushed her way into
the mix but more often then not she was pushed to the side as Flora and Zula
were singularly focused on each other. Over these many months it was
apparent that Flora and Zula were both determined to be the leader, neither
wanting to back down to the other. Tange just wanted everyone to get along.
For a few months we thought it best that Tange share her time between Zula
in the large habitat and Flora in the adjacent area. Each time we would release
Flora in the larger habitat she would eventually become overtly aggressive
towards Zula. Things changed when we observed Flora become unnecessarily
pushy with Tange. It seemed that Flora no longer enjoyed Tange’s company
and Tange showed little interest in Flora as well. This situation caused
us to reevaluate our approach to Tange, Zula and Flora’s simulation
into the habitat.

The decision was made to give all three elephants
the time and space to make the transition in their own time, on their
own terms. In all fairness to the elephants we allowed ourselves to consider
the possibility that they might not ever get along. Over the next several
weeks Flora and Zula were observed in affectionate exchanges over the
fence line. Their relationship was changing. Today turned out to be the day
that an agreement was reached and they decided that indeed they did want to
be together. It was glorious to see all three spend the entire day together,
playing, grazing, browsing and napping, never more than several feet
from each other. Admittedly Zula remains cautious, not completely convinced
that Flora will not take a jab at her but by evening all three where in the
barn, side by side, calm and content. Today was a day to rejoice; Tange, Zula
and Flora are now a family!

After this entry was posted we received an e-mail that reminded us that August
20 is the anniversary of TYKE’S death; the African elephant, owned by
the Hawthorn Corporation, who after killing her trainer during a circus performance
was gunned down in the streets of Honolulu. Tyke was only 21 years old, the
same age Flora was when she came to the Sanctuary. Believing strongly that
there are no coincidences, the uncanny similarity between Tyke’s life
and Flora’s is sobering. The e-mailer writes… “I always
thought Flora reminded me of a lucky version of Tyke.”

August 2,
2005

Tange and Zula discover a new area of the habitat; the trees provide a perfect
refuge from the heat.

July
20 ,
2005

Tange, Zula and Flora continue to explore their environment, and make new
friends. There is a continual flow of abandoned dogs and cats that make their
way to the Sanctuary and the elephants have come to enjoy their company. Several
weeks ago a pregnant cat found refuge with us and in the past month 4 more
abandoned dogs have found Sanctuary. The elephants are more than willing
to share their space. Tange gets goofy when there is a dog or cat in her
yard. She lowers her head and drags her trunk on the ground as she runs
in a mock charge towards the intruder. Zula and Flora on the other hand show
no sign of concern of any kind. Flora has been observed allowing one of
the canine newcomers to eat from her grain dish. When a cat or dog approaches
Zula, she stands completely still so as not to frighten them away. The
girls are doing well, enjoying the mud, the sun and the company.

Tange loves to chase things. Today it was the little cottontail rabbit that
hangs out in one of Tange’s favorite areas. The rabbit hopped back
and forth across the road several times. Tange ran after her in a mock charge.
Soon the rabbit tired of the game and was gone.

May 28,
2005
As the sun sets, Tange and Zula appear to glow in the dusk light, peacefully
browsing in their habitat.

May 23,
2005

Staff spent the afternoon helping Zula get out of a mud wallow that has served
as an enrichment activity since her arrival. She and Tange were playing when
Zula lost her footing. She slid into the mud and onto her side. At first
it appeared she was panicked because she let out a roar but she quickly relaxed
when caretakers and Tange came to her aid. A caregiver was watching as Zula
slid into the mud wallow and was able to give an eye witness account of the
incident. With the help of many bales of hay as support and Tange as a “forklift”, Zula
slowly positioned herself from her side onto her sternum and up onto her
feet. It was remarkable to see how calm she remained while figuring out how
to get out of her sticky predicament. There was some concern about her problematic
hips but once she was up and out of the mud she showed not signs of distress
or fatigue. In fact, within hours she was back in the mud wallow more confident
than before.

May
10, 2005
It is hard to believe that the African elephants have been here for more than
a year. Their assimilation into the habitat was immediate and from what we
see, quite beneficial for each of them. Today a caregiver was able to catch
Zula on film when she took advantage of a fallen tree to scratch a
really big itch!

Zula finds another unexplored area of the habitat to keep herself engaged.

April 4 ,
2005

As result of life in captivity, Zula had suffered from the pain of arthritis
for years prior to coming to the Sanctuary. Thanks to all the exercise
she now gets, her condition is much improved and climbing a hill like this
one is no challenge.

Today was a day of fun and mud for all of the elephants, but the Africans appears
to have an edge on the art of mud baths! Nothing brings us more joy then
to watch the elephant engage in abandoned play, seemingly oblivious of anything
around them. With each day they grow stronger and healthy, in both mind and
body.

Flora and Zula continue to engage each other with energetic play. They were
playing for almost an hour this evening. Tange would wander over and join in
on the fun for a few minutes and then wander off again.

March 12 ,
2005

Zula makes a treat out of a tree branch. One of the many benefits of a natural
habitat is access to a variety of vegetation suitable to the species. Tree
branches are not only nutritious fodder, they also provide hours of enrichment.

March
10 , 2005

In celebration of Flora’s 23rd birthday and first year
anniversary at the Sanctuary, her lifelong guardian and friend David Balding
along with wife Laura and members of the Ahali Elephant Foundation sent bushels
of fruits and vegetables for Flora to share with her sisters. Thanks to the
volume of produce given, Flora, Tange and Zula will be enjoying these goodies
for several days.

Today is Flora’s 22nd birthday and her first anniversary at the Sanctuary.
From the moment of her arrival Flora has proven to be remarkably intelligent
and independent. She has a strong sense of self and a clear image of how she
feels things should be. She has formed a wonderful friendship with Tange. The
two spend a great deal of time together exploring the habitat and hanging out
together. Flora continues to insist that she be dominant over Zula but
that arrangement is not yet settled. Even though Zula is 10 years Flora’s
senior, Flora insists on being dominant. While they bicker over who gets to
call the shots, Tange takes advantage of being the focus of attention. While
she works to bring her two friends closer together she enjoys the best of both
worlds, sharing the companionship of both Flora and Zula.

Tange has been dividing her time between Flora and Zula. Most days she is
with Flora and at night she's with Zula. This arrangement is working out
well for all three girls. Zula and Flora continue to work on their relationship,
and with Tange going back and forth between the separated habitats the pressure
is off Zula and Flora to “hurry up and become friends”. As far
as herd dynamics, we have seen over the years that when it comes to elephants,
three is really not a good herd size. The dynamics can be conflicting, two
picking on a third or as the case with our African elephants, two competing
for the third. We look forward to the arrival of other African elephants in
the future. Until then Tange appears to be content being the peacemaker, dividing
her time between her two best friends.

It is hard to believe that a whole year has passed since Tange and Zula arrived
at the Sanctuary. They so gracefully assimilated into their new environment
it is as if they have always been here. Their days have been spent exploring
new spaces and making new friends, human and animals alike. Not only have they
shared their new home with Flora and a bevy of wild turkey, recently two adopted
kittens have moved in to share their space. It is exciting to see Tange and
Zula respond to new sights, sounds, and critters. The most rewarding part is
observing them savor the freedom to simply be an elephant.

Although this photo was taken this past summer we thought you would like to
see how Flora eats her watermelons—dainty and whole!

February 2, 2005

Flora has been spending most days in the BIG yard with Tange.
Today the EleCam field camera found Flora at one of the many mud wallows.
She spent close to 30 minutes playing until she had covered her entire
body with rich protective mud.

January 31, 2005

Flora walked into the restraint chute and onto the scale to be weighed. She
was calm and confident. She weighed in at 10,125 pounds; a big girl without
an ounce of fat on her.

Nap time is a serious matter at the Sanctuary. The elephants have their favorite
locations and time for catching their beauty sleep; usually during the daylight
hours. According to researchers, day time is when wild elephants sleep as well,
leaving the night time hours for foraging, communing and walking. Today caregivers
were fortunate enough to see Zula get up from a nap. She had chosen a soft
bed of mud in which she left a lasting impression.

Now that Scott has more time to spend at the African barn
he has begun target training with Flora. This training allows greater flexibility for caregivers to comfortably work around an elephant. It is also an important tool for conditioning the elephant to voluntarily participate in standard procedures such as foot trimming, blood draws, baths and non-invasive physical examinations.

Flora is a quick study and curious. Within minutes she understood that Scott wanted her to touch the target with a particular part of her body; head, foot, ear. She did great. At first she offered simple tricks that she had learned in the circus. When those responses were ignored by the trainer (she did not receive a treat for it) she waited for an indication of what Scott wanted. He placed the target near the body part he wanted her to touch and she responded.

This type of conditioning is called protected contact training and utilizes only positive reinforcement. The elephant's participation is invited but if she does not care to participate that is her choice. It is up to the trainer to make the session interesting and rewarding enough so that the elephant wants to participate. In Flora's case, she was extremely interested, a willing participant.

Tange and Zula have been in and out of the restraint chute
several times over the past week. Today the caregivers were able to snap
photos as the girls as they entered the chute and stood on the scale.

Tange and Zula tried out their new scale. They did great!
This is the first time either of these two elephants have stepped onto
a scale. Although they were curious, they were also cautious and decided
not to place all four feet on the platform just yet; maybe tomorrow.

Tange

Zula

January 5, 2005

African elephants use their tusks and feet to excavate mud
wallows, a continually expanding project. They stand on the edge of the
mud hole and pry away chunks of dirt, then grind the dirt down in the water
with their feet, creating more mud. The mud is then spread all over their
body in two fashions; by rolling around in it and flinging it onto their
bodies with their trunk. Today Zula spent some time at her personal mud
spa. Later in the day she and Flora were seen interacting at the fence line. They spend quite a bit of time each day developing their relationship. It is obvious that they both perceive themselves as the dominant individual. Only time will tell if one will finally allow the other to be the dominant individual on a permanent basis.